Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style [Paperback]

Alain Briot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2009

Alain Briot states that, "The personality of the photographer must be present in the image for an artistic photograph to have value." And in this book he sets out to teach the things that are essential in achieving this goal.

Following his successful first book, Mastering Landscape Photography, Briot goes beyond the conventional rules of composition and takes on a fresh, new approach to teaching the art of photography. Based upon his personal experiences as an artist, teacher, and photographer, he opens new doors to the reader-doors leading to new ways of seeing and composing images.

Briot approaches fine art photography as being a combination of art and technique. In this new book he addresses both of these by presenting artistic and technical information. On the artistic side, Briot introduces artistic concepts that have been rarely, if ever, associated with photography. On the technical side, he presents numerous tools that can help you learn how to create better photographs and provides technical solutions to common photographic problems.

The author practices photography as a fine art. What matters most to him is how photography can be used to express feelings and emotions. For Briot, a good photograph must be both artistically inspired and technically excellent. To have just one of these two elements is not enough for a fine art photograph to be successful.

Topics include: - How to compose with color, with black and white, and with light - Why you need to consider your audience while composing a photograph - Recreate the emotions you felt when you captured your photographs - How the elements of color-hue, contrast, and saturation-work in your images - How to control the elements that have a visual effect in your photographs - How to draw upon your personal way of seeing and then share your vision - How to diagnose image maladies and apply the proper remedies - How to define a color palette for a specific photograph - How to use compositional elements to develop a personal style

Forweword by Tony Sweet

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alain Briot is one of the leading contemporary landscape photographers. Originally from Paris, France, he attended the Academie Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris where he studied drawing and oil painting. Briot began studying photography in 1980. Currently living in Arizona, his favorite photographic locations are in the southwestern United States.

Briot's goal is to create the most exciting photographs possible. His equipment, be it cameras, software, etc., is chosen for the ability to make this possible.

Product Details

• Paperback: 369 pages
• Publisher: Rocky Nook; 1 edition (September 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933952229
• ISBN-13: 978-1933952222
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photo Essays

More About the Author

Alain Briot is a Fine Art Landscape Photographer, author and photography consultant who lives in Arizona. Originally from France, Alain graduated from the Academie des Beaux Arts in Paris, received his BA and MA and studied for his PhD in the United States.

His personal style focuses on artistic expression. Alain's goal for his work is to express his emotional response to the locations he photographs. You can see more of his work, and sign up for Alain's FREE newsletter, on his website at alainbriot.com

You will receive 40 free essays in eBook format when you subscribe: http://www.alainbriot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

124 of 125 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - for the right audience..., September 22, 2009

By 

Ken Walsh (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style (Paperback)

I wavered a bit on whether this was a four star or five star review. One the one hand the book covers ground not to be found in any other source I'm aware of and does so in an accessible manner. On the flip side it isn't without some flaws. Upon further consideration though I decided the larger issue was going to be who was reading it and what they wanted from it. I wouldn't be surprised over time to find many 5 star and 4 star reviews for this book mixed in with a few much lower ratings from those who didn't get what they expected.

With that in mind, I'll give the book a solid five stars if you have the right expectations and are aware of a few caveats. With that in mind I'll offer some advice to help potential readers have the right expectations up front:

- Definitely use the Look Inside feature and examine the table of contents, the book covers a lot of more contemplative topics than a photographic technique or composition guide does. Note the title includes "Creativity and Personal Style" and in fact a large part of the text is dedicated to these topics that perhaps certain readers will not connect with. This is some of the most unique and helpful material in the book (at least to me) but I can certainly imagine not all readers being receptive to it.

- Take advantage of the existing essays available online by Alain Briot to get a feel for the writing style. Numerous essays are available on his website as well as the Luminous Landscape website and these will hopefully give you a flavor for the writing. In fact some of the essays available might be considered rough drafts of some of the content in this book.

- Be aware the author is a bit wordy at times. Sometimes he seems to linger on a point or return to a topic so many times it may seem tiresome. This may annoy some readers. My recommendation is to console oneself by noting just how generous the author is with the text, this book has lots and lots of text for a photography book. There are many pictures to be sure, but they are not as giant and dominating as in many books and there just is a lot of writing in its 350-some odd pages. If your perception is the author rambles just consider it as being extra conversational and realize that with all the text in this book there is room to waste some space (and I use the term "waste" lightly, one reader's waste will be another reader's treasure).

I often find saying what something isn't can be helpful, so here is what I don't think the book is:

- It is not a survey of composition rules or techniques. I'd recommend Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye" for that or Briot's prior book.

- It is not a "How To Become a Landscape Photographer" book.

- It is not a "How To Sell and Market Your Images" book.

- It is not a "How To Process or Print Your Images" book.

It is worth saying that there are parts of each of the above "It is not" topics addressed in the book, but they primarily are filling in some details or making broader connections to the overarching topics of creativity and personal style. There is a composition section but it isn't about the normal staid rules.

As this is likely the first review of this book I'll provide some quick comments on the sections/chapters.

Section A is on the differences between how we see and how the camera sees. For me I think he was preaching to the choir and it seemed a bit long in the tooth. Also he spends an inordinate amount of time discussing his annoyance with people seeing a nice picture and reacting with "you must have a nice camera". I suppose as someone who sells beautiful photos he hears this a lot and I've heard similar complaints from others, it just doesn't seem like addressing a reader who probably is already aware of this adds a lot to the text. Besides that labored point he provides a very good overview of a number of differences between what the camera sees and how we perceive not just a scene but a place and a time. This material is covered in other places, he misses a few points I'd consider important, but on the whole even if I feel the section is a bit long winded it does lay a good springboard for many topics that will be repeatedly touched upon throughout the remainder of the text.

Section B is on the "New Rules of Composition". Rather than the standard rules the focus here are on some broader topics, namely light, color and tone and how they are actually part of the composition. There were some very useful observations and perspectives in these chapters. I enjoyed both the "Light" and "Color" chapters. I thought the early part of the "Color" chapter covered basic color concepts well addressed in many other sources, but the later half was excellent. Again, Briot gives you lots and lots of text, so if some of it isn't new or relevant to you that really isn't a big deal. I found the black and white chapter spent too much time segueing into another "artists should feel free to alter the contrast/color/etc. of their photos" sermon - he makes great points, I just have been convinced of them for years anyway. The last chapter of this section with examples and a check list are really excellent material.

Section C on creativity is really the most unique part of the book. I won't even try to summarize it. It is very thought provoking and probably needs many readings. This is the section I'm sure some readers will rave about and others might consider fluff. I know I like it and I also know I haven't digested all of it to the point of making any further comment.

Section D is on the audience and a fair bit of it is probably most useful to those who make images for a living. That said I found at least half of it to be useful to me as an amateur as the concept of art speaking to an audience and the audience speaking back to the creator is universally true regardless of how small that audience might be. The concept of addressing an audience is also an important part of any creative process.

Section E covers some technical aspects that relate to other parts of the book as well as being a good catch all for advanced techniques perhaps not well addressed other places. Also contains some insightful concluding material.

You'll note there were sections I didn't feel worthy for inclusion in the book, specifically from my perspective at the time of reading. I also suspect that any of the topics that didn't connect with me, or portions that don't connect with other readers, are present in the book because the author has encountered enough photographers hung up by those very topics to consider them a worthy inclusion. Alain Briot teaches a number of workshops and seminars, so I suspect he probably has a pretty good handle on what a broad spectrum of photographers will find illuminating and has cast a wide brush.

This was a long review, as the first reviewer I figured I should be as complete as possible. I think there is great material in this book for all photographers who have mastered basic technique and composition. I'm also sure some readers will love each and every part of it, while others might like less than half of it. I fall somewhere in between I think and I am very happy with what I've taken away so far. I emphasize "so far" as I expect to need to revisit the text more than once.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Deeper Goals of Creative Photography, October 1, 2009

By 

John Jacobson (Riverside CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style (Paperback)

The first review posted by Ken Walsh gives a good review of the book, one with which I mostly agree. I'll talk about a few other items.

Alain Briot states that he brings his perspectives as a painter to his compositional approach to photography. He titles his approach a "new" approach to composition. He approaches "photography as an art form." "Art is concerned with expressing emotions, feelings, and opinions."

While Mr. Briot may think he is bring something new to the photographic creative process, a casual reading of the words of a representative photographer from the last millenium shows that his ideas about art and photography are not so new: "A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed" Ansel Adams.

What Mr. Briot does bring to the discussion of photography as art is a challenging treatment on the path from photographic concept as it begins in the mind of the photographer to the final representation of that concept in the finished print. His detailed discussion about the choice of light, the use of color or black and white to enhance that concept, and the final cropping and color balancing on the computer is itself a work of art.

The unique parts of the book are the chapters that explore photography at a very personal level, Finding Inspiration, Exercising Creativity, Developing Your Vision, and Achieving Your Personal Style. They invite you to examine yourself to find what personal creative efforts you may be able to bring to the process, visions you have that will stamp your work as your own, much as an art critic can look at a Monet or a Matisse and instantly recognize the artist. These topics are infrequently discussed in most books on photography. A deep understanding of your own reasons for your love of photography has the potential to elevate your work from depictions of "reality" to personal meditations on life and our place on the planet. i.e. only from a recognition of the need to understand yourself can you create the art which you would show to the world. These chapters have the feel of a meditation written by a mystic, I salute Mr. Briot for his treatment of the personal, emotional human-machine interface aspect of photography.

To some, there will be little appeal in these sections, others will want to read and reread them. I find myself in the second group.

Recommended

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Art Phtography Instruction, October 29, 2009

By 

Frank Mitch (Akron, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style (Paperback)

This Rocky Nook book by author Alain Briot is a must read for professionals or semi-pros who have all of their film and/or digital camera technical abilities under good control. Beginners would be better served to first read Briot's also excellent previous book "Mastering Landscape Photography." The main emphasis in both books is primarily landscape photography.

Several sections are devoted in great detail to the differences between what we see and what the camera sees. The difference between photography and reality is very important to learn. From my personal art experience, various art teachers in the past insisted their students never use photographs as reference material. Digital cameras and photo management software are now making it a new situation.

New Rules of Composition are contained in 147 pages of this 350 page book. Extensive information is given about composing with light, in color, or in black and white. Important elements of a strong composition are covered in great detail.

The Creative Process is the strong part of the book followed by a chapter about Personal Style. Of much interest to those wishing to sell their work is the section about Audiences and Bestsellers. A very valuable chapter near the end deals with Image Maladies and how to correct them. This checklist is the most technical part of the book and deals a lot with Photoshop and Lightroom software settings.

One fault I found with the book is the extremely small font size through it all, not good for older folks with trifocal glasses. In spite of this serious fault I stayed with it until the end and enjoyed every word of every chapter. (There are quite a few typos also.)

Almost every one of the 14 chapters ends with Skills Enhancement Exercises and a Conclusion. These are like mini-workshops, which could be very valuable to anyone with the dedication and perseverance to complete all of them. If becoming a really proficient fine arts photographer is your goal then this book is for you.